A premature baby boy, who was born at only 25 weeks gestation, had his feeding tube removed just in time for Christmas.
Baby Iarla Ace, who weighed just 1lb 10oz when he was born prematurely, was able to taste his first-ever Christmas dinner at home.
Iarla faced many serious medical issues, including a brain haemorrhage, in the weeks following his birth; however, the little fighter has overcome them all. Now, after spending 127 days in hospital, he has finally been discharged ahead of Christmas.
“At the very, very start it was very precarious – we really didn’t think he was going to survive the first couple of days”, his mum, Lindsay Ace, said.
“But he’s a really strong wee man and everything and every idea that they [the doctors] came up with, it just seemed to work for him, and he seemed to just get past each hurdle and then move on to the next one”, she continued.
“It’s going to be amazing just for us all to be together at home this year for Christmas, and just eat dinner and visit family and enjoy just the four of us being together without having to go anywhere near a hospital”.
Lindsay said the family’s previous Christmas was “horrible”, as she and her husband spent the time trying to balance visits to the hospital to see Iarla while ensuring Christmas was a happy time for their other child, four-year-old Aine.
Baby Iarla is now “very content and happy”
Iarla’s father, Matthew, said that it was “incredible” to finally have his son home in time for Christmas.
“The last four weeks leading up to when you thought he was coming home, time really slowed down rather than got faster”, he added.
Just after the previous Christmas, Iarla suffered a bowel obstruction and had to undergo emergency surgery in the hospital on New Year’s Day.
“I think last year we just got through it because we had to”, Lindsay added.
When the feeding tube was removed, Iarla’s family viewed it as a landmark achievement, with Lindsay saying, “I just cried and cried, I was just so happy, just so proud of him”.
“It was a very long process to get to that stage and now he really is thriving, he’s meeting all his developmental milestones for his corrected age. He is really enjoying eating and drinking and he’s a very content and happy little man”, she continued.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “It is heartening to hear that baby Iarla has made it home in time for Christmas, with the added bonus of trying his first ever Christmas dinner”.
“Very premature babies like Iarla demonstrate how resilient even the youngest humans in our society are and point to the humanity of the children in the womb”.
